NICOLA Sturgeon hasn't had a day off in a year while dealing with the Covid crisis, it has emerged.

The First Minster, who is seeking reelection on Thursday, says the last year has been the "most difficult and challenging year of my life".

She said: "It has stretched my resilience to the limits and tested me to my very limits, just the weight of decision making, knowing that every single decision we are having to take has such a profound impact, asking people to stay away from loved ones."

However, she added: "I have not had it as hard as many people across the country and reminding myself of that every day has been one of the ways I have managed to get through it."

The comments came in an interview with the Sunday Mail and were repeated when she appeared on The Sunday Show this morning.

She told host Martin Geissler: "Sure, it's been really tough but if you're a person who's lost somebody to Covid or if you're a business person who's seen your business go to the wall, that's a lot tougher than anything I've gone through.

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"It's taken its toll on me as it has everybody else. Every single day for the last year I've had to take decisions where it's felt like weighing lives on one hand and jobs on the other.

"I've had more sleepless nights in the last year than in my entire adult life combined and it's been tough but I've learned a lot.

"I have a lot of experience now that is needed to drive the country through the remainder of this and then hopefully to a better future.

"We are in a much better, stronger place than we have been all year but there's still some tough times and some big decisions ahead and I believe I have the experience now to steer the country through."

As well as the pandemic, Sturgeon faced an inquiry into the Scottish Government's handling of allegations against former First Minister Alex Salmond in 2020, as well as a separate probe about her role in the process.

She says the "first thing" she will do, if reelected is "get back to working on the next stages of getting us out of lockdown".

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Sturgeon said: "We have another milestone coming on May 17, and for whoever is First Minister that will be the first decision – are we on track to meet that and do the next round of easing?"

In November, Kate Forbes, who is seeking reelection in Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, told the Sunday National that the pandemic has taken its toll on "everybody having to make decisions".

In her capacity as Finance Secretary, she said: "We are constantly mindful of the people who are bearing the brunt of these restrictions.

"As a constituency MSP, in virtual surgeries you're sitting face-to-face with people in despair – in tears sometimes – appealing for help with issues that you can't help because the measures to suppress the virus require the rules and regulations.

"You feel the burden of their worry and their anxiety."